Monday was the first day that I really felt unemployed. It may be that after having a week of rest, I
am ready to think about life more.
I forced myself out of bed and went to the gym (paid for
yearly in advance, so must use!) and discovered that there are some—not a lot,
but enough—people arriving at the gym at 930 am. There was even a yuppy-ish couple working
with a personal trainer. So I won’t be
out of place if I go during normal business hours.
My new office:
Filing for unemployment:
The Illinois Department of Employment Security’s website is pretty easy
to use (so far). I was able to log in
and easily create an account, including direct deposit, and file my claim. I downloaded the form to track and report my
job search efforts. I took a look at
their job link and only found one job in my profession posted in the last 30
days. It looks like I’ll continue my
traditional job search in tandem with using the IDES job link! My weekly benefit won’t be anywhere near what
I normally make, but it will cover COBRA and groceries. It looks like I will be assigned a day to
report every two weeks—reporting any money I made and giving an update on my
job search.
Job search: What is
my number one complaint right now? WHAT IS THE POINT OF UPLOADING A RESUME IF
THE INFORMATION ISN’T IMPORTED AND I HAVE TO COPY AND PASTE THE INFO IN
ANYWAY?! Don’t give the option to
upload! Yes, I am yelling at the numerous website that do this. It is simply STUPID!
I also had a head/desk moment—something stupid that I
did. You know, that moment when you
realize there is a mistake on your resume.
It looks like I sent out two or three resumes last week that listed my
last date of employment as 2013 instead of 2014. AAARRRGGGH.
I can’t blame anyone else for that one.
Tuesday was a bit more of a creative day. I’m starting to think about what manuscript I
want to finish during funemployment. I
also started to actively look for more editing gigs. But it was my volunteering that wiped me
out! Another Chicago Cares project was
for homework help from 315 to 430 in Uptown.
I get there and it is a bit relaxed; someone finds a kid who needs help
and matches him or her up with a volunteer.
I get paired up with a little girl who is reading The Little Mermaid
(Disney version), but she wanted to read it to herself. Since she was turning the pages so quickly
(more quickly than I could read each page), I assumed she wasn’t actually
reading and got her to read out loud to me.
She could read, so I don’t know why she was turning the pages so quickly
when reading to herself. But then
playtime hit and I found myself on the playground playing tag and freeze-tag. WHO NEEDS AEROBICS! PLAY TAG WITH KIDS! I think I burned more calories than 45
minutes at the gym. As the little girls
were shrieking, I found myself making a similar noise and thinking, "Oh
yeah, this is what little girls do."
Wednesday I had a meeting in the Loop with a recruiter. This recruiter at least had some ideas on how
to improve my resume—I should focus one on my corporate paralegal skills (gov’t
filings, contracts, etc.) and have another one that focuses more on
Intellectual Property. Sigh. I hate having more than one resume as it is
more to keep track of. But at least she
provided constructive feedback, which is more than other recruiters have done. When I was done, I walked up to the Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago to see the (free) Money Museum. It was interesting, but people who go should
definitely get there by 1 pm so they can at least see the video. Without the video, it was kinda small and, by
myself, only took about 10-15 minutes to get through. I did get a free picture of myself in the
museum and a few small bags of shredded money. :) Then I checked my Chicago pop out map to see
what public sculptures were nearby that I hadn’t seen before. The Chegall mosaic. (And this is what happens when you use the panoramic setting on a flat wall. The mosaic is NOT rounded.)
A friend also texted that her hospitalized father was
fading. Talked to her for an hour and a
half. More sadness to come.
Thursday was a quiet day.
Gym, laundry (no tan!), reading, jobs search. Had sushi with
friends.
On Friday morning I took a little ramble since it was a
beautiful day. I grabbed my camera and headed out. I’m going to try and take pictures of the
city. My first route will be the Brown Line—see
what interesting things there are along the Brown Line and viewed from the
Brown Line. I only made it as far as
Belmont, and I will have to do some back tracking at some stops—on foot. If I decide to do all train lines, it will be
an extensive project (so no promises).
Here's the Brown Line El crossing the North Branch River (view from Wilson Ave.).
Funny moment: I
applied for a job with the south side baseball team earlier in the week. Yes. Me.
Baseball. And before any
northsiders get snide, I tried to apply for the north side team a few weeks back
but their website locked me out and their “tech support” was utterly
unhelpful. Anyway, I got a call today
for an interview—wouldn’t that be the funniest thing?! They were supposed to accept resumes until
the 16th, but have already stopped, so I suspect they received more
applicants than they expected—I think I should be impressed that I made it as
far as an interview.
Saturday is cleaning day.
Then went off with L to do our annual springtime Wicker Park walk—Division
and Milwaukee. Had $3 mimosas, found $20
shoes (cute heels), and lots of walking and talking and browsing. Tons of people out—first real spring weekend
of the season and EVERYONE and their pets were out. Not joking on the pets: they are everywhere!
Sunday has been a quiet day.
Finished a final proof for an editing client. Made tacos for dinner. Planning lots of errands for Monday. And TV night!
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